Everest Academy for the Arts stages the riveting 'Cats'

Lily Ward plays Jemima in the Everest Academy for the Arts production of "Cats." Rehearsal for the play was photographed at D.C. Everest High School, Wednesday, July 23.
(Photo:
Dan Young/Daily Herald Media
)

WESTON – An Everest-area performing arts group will present the Andrew Lloyd Webber blockbuster musical "Cats" next week in Weston.

The show, based on T.S. Eliot's book "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," is being produced by the Everest Area Academy for the Arts. The play will begin Aug. 13 and run through Aug. 17 in the auditorium of D.C. Everest High School.

"Cats," if you look at it on a surface level, is a strange story told in song and dance. It's about "the annual gathering of the Jellicle cats, at which time one special cat is selected to ascend to the Heaviside layer. A true musical phenomenon, 'Cats' ran in London for a record-setting 21 years and on Broadway for over 18 years," according to the Academy's website.

Audiences are attracted to the Webber musical by riveting music, a surreal set and intricate costumes and makeup to create a dreamlike feline world.

"Cats" continues the Everest Academy for the Arts' tradition of offering a musical production each summer, said Kristine Weirauch, president of the Academy's governing board. The Academy in the past has produced musicals such as "Miss Saigon," "Evita" and "Legally Blonde."

"Cats" is being directed by Laurie Maegli, a retired drama teacher at Wausau West High School and creator of the Central Wisconsin Educational Theatre Alliance. CWETA produced "Cats" several years ago, so Maegli is walking on familiar ground.

Maegli also enlisted a former star of early CWETA productions, Wausau native Kelly (Kohnert) Jacobs who went on to dance and perform on Broadway in New York. Jacobs helped refine the choreography of the famous Jellicle Ball scene, Weirauch said.

The Academy enlists generations of amateur talent to perform in its productions, and "Cats" is no different. Ages range from children to adults, Weirauch said, and Jacobs' work helped give performers a deeper perspective.

"She's someone who is working in the industry," Weirauch said.

Jacobs' efforts gave the people involved in "Cats" a "whole different take on things," Weirauch said. "I watched her work with actors in a day of rehearsals, and it was just boom, boom. I was amazed."

Jacobs also provided a role model for local performers. "She pursued her dream," Weirauch said. "It gives people the hope, the glimmer, that they can too. It's a tough business, but you can make it."

Keith Uhlig can be reached at 715-845-0651. Find him on Twitter as @UhligK.